The Unexpected Enemy Within
by elbcw
Summary: A mission goes wrong and the four end up adrift in a small boat, injured and cold, will they last the night?
1. Chapter 1

Authors note: Preposterous cliché's, some dodgy medical stuff and barely any plot. Enjoy!

The Unexpected Enemy Within

Chapter One

The water was cold and choppy. He had seen bigger waves and was grateful it was not as bad as it could be. As he surfaced and was splashed almost immediately by a wave, he tried to get his bearings. The ship was behind him, sinking fast, there was no point trying to swim towards it. He twisted around. As he bobbed up and down, buffeted by the waves, he caught a glimpse of the small boat that had been tied up behind the ship. It must have broken loose as the ship was attacked and was now drifting about a hundred yards from him.

Porthos twisted around again looking for his brothers. He spotted someone, floating face up a few yards away. He kicked his legs and swam towards the still form. He realised as he moved that his left leg must have been injured. He had been vaguely aware of a sword catching his leg during the affray they found themselves in as the ship was attacked.

D'Artagnan was unconscious, a bruise blossoming on his temple, he did not stir when Porthos called his name and rearranged him so that the big musketeer could drag him towards the boat.

Porthos could not search for Athos or Aramis whilst he was pulling d'Artagnan. He hoped they were both in the water, he hoped they had both jumped from the stricken ship. He could only hope that once he reached the small boat, and had got himself and the unconscious man he held on board, he would be able to find his brothers quickly. The choppy waters were not somewhere any of them should remain for long.

MMMM

The surface of the water was yards above him. He could see the light of the fire still burning on the sinking ship. He was convinced his lungs would burst, his need for air becoming more than a luxury he craved. As he broke the surface and gasped, Aramis watched the fire extinguish itself as the ship continued to sink. There were shouts from the crew, but all the sailors, the ones that had been able to jump, had done so on the other side of the ship, towards the enemy. There was still enough light for him to make out the enemy ship, its sails full as the wind took it away from the devastation it had caused. The sailors in the water were either going to drown or be picked up by one of the long boats that had been part of the attacker's strategy.

Aramis recalled seeing the ships dinghy come loose and begin to drift astern, if it was still within reach it was a better bet than taking his chances with the enemy on the other side of the ship. Turning in the water he was almost elated to see the boat about fifty yards from him. The thought of the swim towards it was not something he was looking forward to. He had fallen before he was able to jump from the ship. As the ship had listed, he crashed to the side and had almost been crushed by a barrel rolling over him. Had the barrel been full, he doubted he would have survived. As it was he knew he would be covered in bruises and was sure his ankle was either badly sprained or broken.

As he slowly swam towards the drifting boat he saw a figure clinging to its side. Athos. If he could spare the energy he would have shouted out, but all his energy was being spent on the swim towards the boat. He could not work out why Athos was simply hanging onto the side of the boat, and not pulling himself into it. Being out of the cold water would surely be a priority for all of them.

Grabbing the edge of the boat he steadied himself and looked across at Athos who was staring at him, his eyes unfocused, a trickle of blood making its way across his forehead and down his cheek.

'Athos?'

The swordsman did not respond, he just continued to stare.

'We need to get out of the water…are you injured…Athos?'

Aramis moved along the side of the boat, hand over hand until he was next to Athos who just stared at him. He reached up and grabbed his friends shoulder. Athos released one hand from the boat and pushed Aramis away, dunking him under the water in the process. Disorientated, it took Aramis a few seconds to realise what was happening. Athos had one hand on his shoulder keeping him under the waves. Aramis managed to bring his hands up and pushed back at Athos, but he was in the weaker position and could not break free.

MMMM

Porthos had managed to glance around a few times as he gradually closed in on the boat. He had seen Athos hanging onto the edge of the boat and wondered why the swordsman did not climb aboard.

When he was within a few feet he was aware of Aramis talking before frantic splashing. As he twisted around he realised Athos was holding Aramis under the water. The marksman was wildly grabbing at Athos' hand trying to free himself.

'Athos!' yelled Porthos, wondering if Athos did not realise it was Aramis he was attacking. His friend looked at him impassively.

Porthos reached down and groped around briefly before his hand closed on the back of Aramis' doublet. He pulled the marksman away from Athos hold. As he broke the surface his friend gasped for air, Porthos grabbed Aramis' arm and guided his hand up to the edge of the boat.

'You OK?'

Aramis looked around and found Porthos who was looking passed him toward Athos.

'Yes,' Aramis panted, 'thanks to you…good timing.'

'What's up with him?'

'Bang on the head, I think…d'Artagnan?' asked Aramis looking at the pale young man held in Porthos' other arm.

'Unconscious.'

'We need to get on the boat.'

'Stating the obvious,' said Porthos with a wry grin, 'Athos?'

Athos looked at Porthos blankly.

'Can you get on the boat? Pull yourself up.'

Athos slowly turned his head and looked at the boat, then hauled himself aboard. Aramis looked at Porthos and smiled.

'You can be in charge of him then…he doesn't appear to like me at the moment.'

Porthos grinned, 'my winning personality…Athos, help me get d'Artagnan on the boat.'

Athos leaned over the edge of the boat and grasped d'Artagnan under the arms and pulled him aboard with Porthos pushing the unconscious musketeer from below. With a thud d'Artagnan landed in the boat.

'You can go next,' said Aramis, 'not sure I want to take my chances with Athos on my own.'

MMMM

Athos' continued stupor was a worry, thought Aramis, he had clearly banged his head and was now unfocused and combative. The combination would not be good at the best of times, but here in the middle of the night in a choppy sea, it could be lethal.

For some reason Athos did not seem to have a problem with Porthos. The big musketeer had persuaded Athos to drag d'Artagnan to the other side of the boat to help balance it whilst he hauled himself up. When Aramis had made his first attempt to pull himself aboard, Athos had leaned forwards and pushed him off. As he scrambled to regain his grip Aramis watched as Porthos firmly moved the injured swordsman as far away as the small boat would allow.

Porthos returned and reached over and helped to pull Aramis up, 'what did you do to upset him?'

'I have no idea, perhaps I scared him when I grabbed him a few minutes ago?'

'How long is he going to be confused for?'

Aramis shrugged his shoulders, 'I don't know.'

Athos was glaring at Aramis from his seat at the bow of the small boat. The cut to his head did not look serious but he doubted the swordsman would let him get close enough to look at it properly. Although in their current situation there was little he could do about it anyway. He looked around the boat, there were two bench seats, a storage locker and little else, oars were stored under the seats.

'No point trying to row anywhere at the moment,' said Porthos who had guessed what Aramis was thinking, 'no stars to guide us by.'

Porthos was correct, there was no sign of any of the other survivors from the wreck which had now disappeared below the waves. The sky was clouded, with no stars or moon to act as a guide they would be picking a direction blind. Their only hope was that when the light returned they would still be able to see the coast. They had been attacked early on in their journey so there was a chance that land would still be visible.

'Are there any supplies?' said Aramis eyeing the storage box next to Athos.

Porthos twisted around and moved to sit opposite the unfocused Musketeer and reached forwards opening the box.

'Water, and blankets…I think someone was planning on an escape.'

MMMM

'Are you injured?' asked Aramis.

'Cut to my leg…I'm blaming the boat moving,' replied Porthos as he moved around to allow Aramis to assess the injury, 'the guy I was fighting was not very good, he got a lucky swipe in.'

'I wonder who they were?' said Aramis as he untied his sash and wrapped it around Porthos' leg, 'we weren't expecting any trouble.'

Porthos managed to suppress a whimper through clenched teeth as Aramis tied the makeshift bandage.

'Not much more I can do than that.'

Aramis was about to shuffle around to look at d'Artagnan, but cried out in pain instead. He crumpled forward, Porthos grabbed him before he could hit the bench seat in front of him, gently lowering him to the floor of the boat. Porthos looked the marksman over trying to work out why his friend was in such pain. Aramis had his eyes screwed shut and was panting, clinging on to Porthos tightly as he worked through the pain.

'Ankle,' he managed to say between panted breathes, 'I'd forgotten…the cold…water must have…numbed the pain.'

Porthos looked down at Aramis' booted feet, 'which one?'

'Right.'

'Best get your boot off then…it's probably gonna hurt a bit.'

'Now whose stating…the obvious?' said Aramis as he managed to get his breathing under control.

It took him a few minutes to ease the leather boot off Aramis' foot, the marksman was clutching at the side of the boat, his knuckles white and eyes screwed shut the whole time. He whimpered in pain several times, but did not pass out, although Porthos thought it might have been better if he had. Aramis' ankle was swollen and dark with bruising.

'Not much we can do about it,' said Aramis when he had controlled his breathing for the second time.

'But we can at least swap our wet jackets for a blanket each? There are four here,' said Porthos who had returned to the storage box.

After persuading Athos to take off his doublet he draped one of the blankets around his shoulders. Athos was staring ahead, he did not appear to be focusing on anything. Between them Porthos and Aramis divested the still unconscious d'Artagnan of his damp doublet and covered him in the second blanket.

Porthos helped Aramis out of his doublet before finally taking his own off, they settled down with the blankets around their shoulders.

'How long before it is light do you think?' asked Aramis looking off into the distance.

'It can't be more than another couple of hours,' replied Porthos.

They settled down to wait.

MMMM

As he slowly opened his eyes he wondered where he was for a few minutes. His head ached a little, but he had experienced worse. He turned his head slightly and saw Athos sat staring ahead. The swordsman had dried blood on his face, he did not seem to be looking at anything in particular.

Looking the other way, he saw Porthos and Aramis. Porthos had a makeshift bandage around his leg and Aramis appeared to have an injured ankle. They were talking quietly. He wondered why they were not including Athos in their conversation.

A movement to his left, had d'Artagnan looking back towards Athos, who had stood up causing the small boat to rock. Both Porthos and Aramis looked over at the same time.

'Athos, sit down,' said Porthos firmly. Athos did as he was told. D'Artagnan wondered what was wrong with the swordsman.

'D'Artagnan?' said Aramis.

'Hello,' replied the musketeer with a slightly pained smile, 'what happened?'

Aramis carefully shuffled over to him, and sat on the bench seat with him, reaching up and feeling his head, d'Artagnan did not stop him. Porthos knelt beside them.

'You were unconscious when I found you,' said Porthos.

Another, sudden movement from Athos, had Porthos twisting around. The boat was too small for any of them to react effectively. Athos grabbed Aramis from behind and dragged him backwards.

Porthos shouted but Athos ignored him. The movement was causing the small boat to rock violently. Aramis was trying to grab at Athos' arms but the action of being pulled back had caused him to knock his injured ankle sending a wave of pain through him. D'Artagnan realised the marksman was close to passing out.

D'Artagnan tried to push himself up to sit, but found the movement made him dizzy. Through hazy vision he watched as Athos twisted his captive around and tipped him over the side of the boat, the movement causing the boat to rock backwards. A splash told d'Artagnan that Aramis was in the water. Porthos grabbed Athos by the shoulder pulling him around to face him and punched him. The swordsman slumped to the floor in a heap.

'Aramis!' yelled Porthos as he tried to steady the violently rocking boat and look for the missing marksman in the choppy water.

MMMM


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Porthos had to wait until the boat had settled before he could lean over the side and look for Aramis. D'Artagnan had managed to sit up and drag Athos over to his side of the boat to balance them.

'Can you see him?'

'No,' said Porthos as he looked hard at the water, 'yes.'

Aramis broke the surface of the water. He coughed and gasped, struggling to breath, Porthos leaned over as far as he could and grabbed Aramis' arm dragging him towards the boat. Unable to help himself, Aramis allowed Porthos to haul him back aboard. He was still coughing.

'Take your time,' said Porthos as Aramis continued to cough and splutter.

Aramis blinked a few times and settled his breathing, he looked over at Athos who was now unconscious on the floor of the boat.

'I 'ad to knock him out, I was just too slow to stop him chucking you off the boat.'

'What's the matter with him,' said d'Artagnan who was looking between Aramis and Athos with concern.

'We think he's banged his head, seems to have taken a disliking to Aramis…that's the second time he's tried to kill 'im.'

Aramis, managed to push himself up to sit, 'you shouldn't have knocked him out, when he already had a head injury.'

'Next time I'll just let 'im drown you then, shall I?' snapped Porthos.

'Sorry,' said Aramis a little taken aback.

Porthos sighed, realising Aramis had not meant to chide him, he said in a calmer voice, 'I didn't have any choice, he would have capsized the boat.'

Aramis smiled accepting the unspoken apology as Porthos grabbed the marksman's blanket from the floor of the boat and wrapped it tightly around his friend.

'We should restrain him,' said d'Artagnan unbuckling his weapons belt.

D'Artagnan and Porthos moved Athos to lie on his side and wrapped the belt around his wrists. The swordsman did not stir.

They arranged themselves around the edge of the small boat. Aramis and Porthos had their injured legs stretched out in front of them. Aramis was shivering slightly after his recent misadventure. Porthos moved closer in the vain hope that his own body heat would help to warm up the soaked musketeer.

Porthos noticed that d'Artagnan still looked a little unfocused.

'How are you feeling?' asked Porthos as he eyed d'Artagnan.

'Not too bad, a bit dizzy…I still don't remember what happened.'

'What's the last thing you do remember?' asked Aramis unable to hide his concern.

'Being on the ship, Athos telling us he was sure the two Englishmen weren't the ones we were supposed to have met. Nothing after that.'

Porthos paused for a moment to order the events in his head before recounting to d'Artagnan how they had come to find themselves adrift in a small boat.

'I don't know how Athos found out about the two Englishmen, but we confronted them. Which turned out to be a bad idea. It wasn't just them that were out of place, several members of the crew were with them. They started to fight us, which we could have won, but then another ship shot at ours. Our ship sank rapidly. The crew started to jump overboard. You and Athos jumped, I followed.'

Aramis continued, realising Porthos did not know what had happened after he had jumped from the ship.

'I rather ungracefully fell over when the ship tilted to one side and was hit by one of those barrels…'

'…you never said,' remarked Porthos, 'you could have been killed.'

'If it had been full I probably would have been…I think that's when I hurt my ankle. When I saw that you had all abandoned me I jumped off as well. The last I saw, the Englishmen were lying in a pool of their own blood. You took out one, Athos took out the other. I'm guessing you both hit your head's after leaving the ship, you were both conscious when you jumped.'

'Was the other ship English?' asked d'Artagnan.

'No idea. But whoever they were they didn't hang around after they had scuppered our ship.'

Aramis tried to stifle a yawn, 'would either of you object if I tried to sleep for a while? Now that Athos is not in a position to drown me again I feel a little bit safer.'

MMMM

D'Artagnan exchanged a glance with Porthos, Aramis was visibly shivering. Porthos gently moved the sleeping man to lean against him, Aramis did not stir.

'We need to get to shore. We don't know how seriously injured Athos is and we all need to get warm,' said Porthos quietly.

D'Artagnan nodded, 'when we get ashore one of us will need to get back to Paris and report…me I suppose.'

'Provided your head is alright by then. But it will all depend on us getting some help. We've got nothing, I think we've all lost our weapons and I doubt if we have much money between us…it's all been a bit of a disaster.'

D'Artagnan smiled grimly, 'I agree…why don't you try to sleep, I'll keep watch for a bit.'

Porthos nodded, he rearranged himself and Aramis so that Aramis was as far away from Athos as possible. D'Artagnan smirked at the gesture, despite Athos now being restrained Porthos clearly did not trust his currently confused friend.

MMMM

Athos opened his eyes and tried to work out why the world was tilting from side to side repeatedly. It was a steady movement with the occasional slap of water against wood. He remembered the ship and the fight with the Englishmen. He remembered jumping into the water and hoping that the others were following him. The water was cold and choppy. He had looked back in time to see d'Artagnan jump, hitting his head on the way down and falling to the water unconscious. He had hated not being able to get back to the young musketeer but had seen Porthos near him. As he had twisted around in the water he had seen the small boat floating free of the sinking vessel and had swum towards it, feeling himself being buffeted towards it rapidly. The last thing he remembered, was knowing he was going to hit the small boat hard.

He tried to sit up, as the blanket that was covering him fell away he realised his hands were strapped together with d'Artagnan's weapons belt. Athos looked around and saw his brothers lying asleep in front of him, each man huddled under a blanket. D'Artagnan was closest, leaning against the side of the boat. Porthos was lying next to one of the bench seats with Aramis on the other side of him pushed as far over as he could get. Both Porthos and Aramis appeared to be injured, Porthos had a makeshift bandage around his leg and Aramis had one boot off, his bare foot dark with bruising.

'How are you feeling?' asked d'Artagnan as he sat himself up a little straighter.

'Confused?' replied Athos holding up his bound hands.

'We think you banged your head. You…tried to kill Aramis…twice.'

Athos looked towards Aramis and tried to remember what had happened.

'I don't remember…what did I do?'

'You tried to drown him, once before we got on the boat and then later on you threw him overboard.'

D'Artagnan leaned forward and unbuckled the belt from Athos' wrists, 'we were waiting until it got light, Porthos was hoping we would still be able to see land so that we would have something to aim at.'

'Like the coast over there?' said Athos pointing behind d'Artagnan who turned to see.

They were not very far from the coast. Athos carefully pulled himself up to sit on the bench seat, d'Artagnan sat beside him. They pulled the oars out from under the seats and set to work rowing towards the coast.

MMMM

Due to both of them having slight concussions the rowing was hard work, but Athos had decided that both Aramis and Porthos would be better left to sleep. Both men were injured and would need their strength when they reached land.

As they rowed it became apparent that the tide was with them, they were buffeted a little but gradually they closed in on the shore.

Athos decided it was time to wake the others he leaned forwards and shook Porthos' shoulder to rouse the big musketeer. With a groan he opened his eyes. Stepping over Porthos, Athos crouched beside Aramis and shook the sleeping man.

Aramis opened his eyes and focused on Athos. He reacted with shock and tried to move away jarring his injured leg in the process causing him to cry out in pain. Porthos reacted quickly and grabbed Athos from behind pulling him backwards.

'It's OK Porthos,' said d'Artagnan as he tried to pull Porthos off Athos, 'he's OK now.'

Porthos let Athos go. As the rocking ship settled they returned to Aramis' side. The marksman had paled and was clutching at the side of the boat, his breathing fast, his eyes tightly shut. It took Aramis several minutes to calm his breathing and open his eyes again.

'Sorry, I did not think,' apologised Athos.

Aramis nodded and, with a little help from Porthos sat up, wincing as he did so.

'How are you feeling?' Aramis asked when he found he could speak again.

'I'll be OK, I've had worse. D'Artagnan told me what I did to you…I have no idea why I did that.'

Aramis smiled, 'It's OK, at least you're not trying to drown me anymore.'

Athos noticed Aramis trying to hide his shivering, he grabbed the blanket he had been covered with, no longer needing it himself as the rowing had warmed both him and d'Artagnan up. Porthos took it and after giving Aramis a stern look threw it over him.

'How much longer until we get to shore?' asked Porthos looking across at the shore line.

'The tide is with us,' said Athos as he retook his seat and picked up the oar again, 'not long.'

MMMM

Athos and d'Artagnan continued to row, Porthos resumed his place next to Aramis who had either passed out or fallen asleep his shivering obvious to them all now.

As they neared the shore they heard a shout. Looking around Athos saw a man and an excitable dog standing on the beach. The man, who looked elderly but was clearly very fit, waded out to grab the bow of the boat and with d'Artagnan's help hauled the small boat far enough into shore that it stayed put.

'Where did you four come from?' asked the man as he shooed the curious dog away.

'Monsieur, we are soldiers, we were on a ship heading to England on the Kings business when we were shipwrecked. Any help you can give us will be very much appreciated,' said Athos adopting his normal position as leader of the group.

'For the King, I will most certainly help you, is your friend there injured?' said the man indicating Aramis who had not stirred.

'Yes, they both are,' replied Athos nodding towards Porthos, 'we are all cold.'

'I expect you are. Let me help you back to my house, it's not far, the wife will be more than happy to help you, she is generous to a fault…particularly with good looking young men,' said the man with an impish grin.

MMMM

The farmer, who despite his age, was very strong helped Porthos to hobble across the beach towards the field that separated it from the mans small house. The excitable dog had wandered off, flushing out birds around the edges of the field. Three horses looked up as the little group passed by.

'How long have you been out there for?' asked the farmer, who had introduced himself to them as Jean.

'Overnight, we were lucky to not drift away from the coast,' replied Porthos trying not to wince too much as they crossed the uneven surface.

'My wife Gillian is a dab hand with a needle and thread, she'll see to that leg of yours, unless one of your comrades is a field medic as well?'

'Aramis usually sews us up, but he's probably not up to it at the moment,' said Porthos glancing back at his friend who was being helped by both Athos and d'Artagnan. Aramis looked very pale and was clearly struggling to stay conscious.

'We'll get him by the fire in the kitchen, Gill always has it warmer than is strictly necessary, says it helps her arthritis.'

Porthos smiled, he knew they had been very lucky to find help. They could easily have landed on a stretch of coast with no inhabitants for miles. Their assortment of injuries would have hindered their progress back to Paris.

A woman who must have been Gillian appeared at the doorway of the farmhouse, a bowl in her hand. Several chickens and a couple of ducks moved towards her, only to be shooed away when she noticed her husband and four strangers approaching.

'Gill, these men are Musketeers, they need some assistance. This one,' he nodded towards Porthos, 'will need your skills with a needle, and that lad needs to be warmed up a bit and have his ankle looked at.'

'You only went out to find the dog,' replied the woman with mock exasperation. She moved aside as Jean helped Porthos across the threshold.

The small house could only be described as cosy. A door to the side of the main room led off to a tiny bedroom. The main living area had a roaring fire with a couple of soft chairs beside it. The farmer helped Porthos to one.

'I could sit at the table, Monsieur,' protested Porthos as the farmer pushed him to sit in what was probably his own chair.

'No, you're injured, you will sit there,' said Jean firmly, but with a smile.

Gillian had bustled off into their bedroom, she re-emerged with a couple of blankets. One she gave to Porthos, who thanked her with a nod. Although he was very worried about Aramis' near constant shivers, he knew that he was almost as cold.

As Athos and d'Artagnan manoeuvred Aramis into the other soft chair it was clear the man had finally passed out. Gillian arranged the second blanket over the marksman and felt his skin, tutting as she did so.

'Why is he suffering so much more than the rest of you?'

Athos sighed before replying, 'I had a head injury that caused me to be…to not act in my usual manner…I pushed him out of the boat.'

Gillian looked at Athos with concern, 'but your head is alright now?'

She reached her hand up to move Athos' hair away from the small cut to his head.

'I believe so Madam.'

'Then do not blame yourself for what you have done, you are clearly worried about your comrade. Knocks to the head do strange things to people.'

Athos managed a smile. Porthos was impressed with Gillian. She had successfully taken charge of four grown men and she was about half the size of them.

Gillian proceeded to get them all stripped of their damp doublets which she spread about the room to dry. She sent d'Artagnan off to collect water so that she could make them some soup and ordered Athos away to wash the dried blood from his face and hair so that she could take a proper look at his head wound.

Jean and the jumpy dog had disappeared to tend to their livestock, he had said they were welcome to stay as long as necessary.

'Breeches off, I want to clean and stitch that wound.'

Porthos laughed, 'it normally takes more than a simple command to have me stripping off Madam.'

'My sons are older than you, and I have seen it all before,' chuckled the old woman.

After helping him with his boots, she assisted Porthos to stand so that he could take off his breeches. Like her husband she was remarkably strong. She hummed in dissatisfaction as she looked at the sword wound.

'I think we are just in time. I will have to clean it carefully…I don't think there is any infection.'

'Madam,' said Athos who had returned from cleaning himself up, 'although I am sure Porthos will try not to move he can be…combative when he gets stitches. Allow me to assist you.'

Gillian smiled at Porthos who was scowling at Athos as he crossed the small room and positioned himself behind the chair ready to restrain the big musketeer.

'My boy, Marc, was always a nuisance when he needed stitches, I actually knocked him out once.'

Porthos exchanged a wry smile with Athos.

MMMM

D'Artagnan watched as Gillian stitched the wound on Porthos' leg whilst Athos held him back in the chair. The big musketeer was doing his best not to move or react to the stitches and when he finally passed out they all breathed a sigh of relief, except for Gillian.

'For a big man, he is quite a baby really,' she said as she finished off the final stitch and wrapped a bandage around his leg before covering him with a blanket.

'He's never that well behaved for me,' said Aramis quietly from his chair.

Gillian laughed, 'woman's touch, my dear. Now, if you will excuse me I shall make you all something warm to eat.'

Gillian wandered over to her small kitchen area and bustled about chopping vegetables and meat. The conscious musketeers watched her for a few minutes.

'We need to get word to Paris as soon as possible. D'Artagnan do you think you will be able to ride? I spoke to Jean and he is willing to lend us one of his horses.'

'I'm not dizzy anymore,' replied d'Artagnan who caught Aramis looking at him, 'really, I'm fine. In better shape than you at any rate.'

Aramis shrugged his shoulders, 'you are right. Neither Porthos or myself shall be riding for a few days. You will need to send a cart for us I'm afraid. We can't impose on the lovely Gillian for too long.'

'You will impose on us as long as is necessary my boy,' said Gillian over her shoulder, 'you are too ill to go anywhere for a couple of days, I doubt you could make it to the door without collapsing.'

Aramis had the decency to look contrite at the telling off from their kindly hostess. D'Artagnan chuckled.

'I think we have found a woman you cannot charm,' said Athos.

MMMM

Aramis insisted that d'Artagnan not leave until the following morning. Athos reluctantly agreed, knowing that although he claimed to feel better they could not afford for d'Artagnan to come to harm on his journey back to Paris.

Jean and Gillian had offered them their bed, but the musketeers had refused, pointing out that they were used to sleeping on the ground. After feeding them all again and ensuring they had enough blankets the couple had bid them goodnight.

'If you leave early in the morning you should reach that tavern I was telling you about,' said Porthos to d'Artagnan, 'we had a lovely stew there last time.'

Aramis nodded his agreement before looking across as Athos, 'what's the matter with you?'

'Sorry, I was trying to work out why I attacked you. I cannot imagine what made me do it.'

'As long as you've stopped now, we'll forget about it,' said Aramis, slapping Athos on the arm, he grinned at the contrite swordsman, 'although as we will have a few days here and then a long journey back to Paris, you can continue to apologies for a bit longer, if that would make you feel better.'

Athos glared at him, 'I could always have a relapse.'

The End.


End file.
